So Long, Ferret-Boy
by Pengi13
Summary: After the second wizard's war, Draco gets transfigured into a ferret and who just happens to be the first person he comes into contact with that could possibly help him? You guessed it, Hermione Granger.
1. Chapter 1

"Maybe this will also teach you some manners, Mr. Malfoy."

Those were the last words Draco heard as the world around him grew to larger proportions; or at least he grew smaller. As the hooded figure stood over him pointing at him he saw them sneer.

"I always thought that you made a better varmint."

"You said you'd help me stay out of prison!" Draco tried to shout but squeaks were the only sounds that escaped his mouth.

Draco scurried away as the person blasted spells at him, laughing all the while. As a searing charm ricocheted off the wall next to him, Draco forced himself through a space in the baseboard. He quivered in fear as he saw the boots step next to the crack.

"Just remember, Mr. Malfoy, I've saved you from spending your punishment in Azkaban."

"Wasn't that a bit overkill?" a woman said as Draco forced himself further through the space in the wall.

"Not at all. If he isn't scared, he'll never survive."

Draco crawled through the walls until he found a vent leading outside. He ran out onto the grassy knoll and hid in the bushes as the two cloaked figures exited the abandoned house.

"But... If I do see Malfoy again... I might just kill him for sport. After all, it is his family's fault the Dark Lord fell. But shhh," the man put a finger to his lips, "we don't want the ferret to know that we're conspiring against him."

* * *

Hermione kicked off her heels as she entered her flat.

"Welcome home, Hermione, " her muggle roommate, Mandy, said.

"Hiya Mandy. How was your day?" Hermione said exhausted.

"Oh you know, I was reading up on ferrets," she said.

Hermione rolled her eyes.

"You still want one?"

"Of course! Look how cute they are!"

Hermione looked over at Mandy who was holding up her laptop that had a picture of three ferrets wearing hats.

"They stink!" Hermione said as poured herself some tea. She began to think of a particular blonde ferret as she said, "they're positively foul."

"That's why you bathe them, silly." Mandy said shutting her computer. She grabbed her coat off the back of the chair as she said, "Do you at least want to come to the pet store with me?"

Hermione sighed, "Fine... I have to get Crookshanks some more food anyway."

* * *

Draco opened his eyes and placed a hand (paw really) on his head. He winced at the bright lights around him. Last thing he could remember was being shoved into a sack in the London Underground.

"Awww! Mummy, look at the cute ferrets!" a little girl said running over to him.

Draco scowled as the girl pressed her nose up against the glass.

"Bugger off!" he tried to say but what came out was a bunch of chittering. As she giggled, he huffed and turned. Behind him was a pile of other ferrets sleeping. He rolled his eyes as one yawned cutely.

"Give me a break," he grumbled.

At that moment, Draco heard a bell ring somewhere in the store. He stood up on his hindlegs as he heard a familiar voice.

* * *

Hermione and Mandy stepped into the pet shop.

"Ok, I'm going to go get cat food."

"Alright, I'm going find a ferret."

Hermione went down an aisle full of cat food. Walking into this pet shop always reminded her of the owl emporium in Diagon Alley. It had already been three months since she decided to leave the Wizarding world after helping with the reconstruction of Hogwarts. As she had told Harry and Ron, she just wanted a break from being publicly known as a war hero. Naturally, none of her muggle friends knew the truth about her life. She had ran into Mandy on the train and was surprised to find out that they had gone to the same primary school.

Hermione kept in touch with Harry and Ginny (Harry had taught his now wife how to use a telephone and muggle post). However, Ron took her leave harder than her other friends and she only heard about him from what the Potters told her.

"Hermione! Come look at this ferret!" Mandy called.

Hermione tore herself away from her thoughts and walked over to her roommate. When she saw the ferret that Mandy was pointing to her jaw dropped. It looked exactly like Malfoy when Professor Moody - well Barty Crouch Jr. - had transfigured him in their fourth year.

"Isn't he adorable? Look at him try to stand like he's a person!" Mandy said, "I think he's the one I'm going to get."

The ferret chittered as it wobbled on its hindlegs. The shopkeeper came over with a pet carrier.

"Let me help you with that, miss."

As they walked out of the store with their purchases, Mandy held up her new ferret in its box.

"What should I call him do you think?"

Hermione looked at the blonde ferret that almost seemed to be glaring at her.

"Malfoy seems like an appropriately foul name."

Mandy rolled her eyes, "You come up with really strange names, Hermione."

"What's that supposed to mean? I knew someone called Malfoy!"

Mandy looked at her skeptically, "Who would name their kid 'Malfoy?'"

"That was his last name. His first name was Draco."

Mandy puckered her lips as she grumbled, "Well... You still come up with weird names. Like Crookshanks..."

"What's wrong with Crookshanks?" Hermione asked offended.

* * *

Draco watched Hermione from his cage in the her living room as she read her book.

"Listen to me you stupid mudblood! It's me! Draco Malfoy!"

Hermione looked up at him from her book.

"Mandy, I think your ferret is hungry. He won't stop crying."

"I'm not crying!"

Mandy came into the living room with her hair wrapped in a towel, "he shouldn't be, I put food in his dish."

"You call that food, Muggle?" Draco snapped as she opened his cage. Once again his words came out as chirps and squeaks.

He pressed himself against the opposite side of the cage as she reach inside. He tried to fight as she picked him up.

"If you squirm too much, I'll drop you. Ouch!"

Draco had just sunk his teeth into her finger causing her to drop him. He scampered away but skidded to a stop when a large orange cat jumped down from the top of a bookshelf.

Very quickly, he was scooped up off the ground.

"You might want to be careful," Hermione said looking at him sitting in her hands.

He looked at her surprised from how gently she spoke to him. He blinked as he remembered who it was that was holding him.

"Unhand me, Granger!"

She handed him back to Mandy.

"I'm going to bed. Let me know what you decide to call him."

Draco watched the witch pick up the fat orange beast and walk down a hallway. The muggle, Mandy, placed him back in the cage. She looked down at the bite mark he had left on her finger and then shook it at him.

"No more biting, you!"

He hissed at her angrily, then watched as she walked away nursing her injury and shut off the light. Draco's shoulders slumped as he wrapped his tiny paws around the the bars of his cage.

"I want to go home..."


	2. Chapter 2

The next morning Hermione got up to make herself breakfast. It was Saturday which meant she had a long day of doing nothing to look forward to. As she grabbed a skillet from the cupboard, the ferret cage in the living room caught her eye. There was a piece of paper attached to it.

Hermione pulled the note off the cage and read aloud:

"Dear Hermione,

My owner, Mandy Veronica Newton, would like to apologize for saying that you don't think up good names for pets. As it so happens, she looked up the meaning of the name 'Draco' last night. In case you didn't know, but you probably do because you're really, really, really, smart..."

Hermione rolled her eyes and then looked over at the ferret, which was watching her. She looked back at the note and continued:

"... The name 'Draco' means 'dragon' or 'serpent.' My owner, Mandy Veronica Newton, is also smart and decided that because of my nasty habit of biting and hissing I behave more like a dragon or snake and so it seems only fitting that my name is..."

Hermione stifled some laughter as she read the next part to herself. The ferret began to hiss and bounce around in his cage.

"... Sir Naughty-Angry-Kitten-Eel. A.K.A. Snake."

The ferret froze and Hermione had the suspicious feeling that it could understand her. As she examined the ferret in its cage, she heard something hit her window. Both her and the ferret nearly jumped out if their skins. Hermione whipped around to see Errol slumped against her window sill.

Hermione rushed to the window and pulled the bird inside. With how many times Harry had taught Mr. and Mrs. Weasley how to use a phone or muggle post, they still insisted on sending her owls. Tied to Errol's leg was a copy of the _Daily Prophet_ and in his beak was a letter.

Hermione took the letter and then read it to herself after suspiciously eyeing the ferret peering at her from across the room.

In summary, the letter Mrs. Weasley wrote was wondering if she'd be visiting them for Christmas and how much longer she'd be staying in the muggle world. She also wasn't shy to add that Ron missed her. Hermione felt a pang of guilt at those words. She set the letter on the coffee table and then picked up the newspaper.

It was mostly filled with trivial news. Rita Skeeter apparently began to write her gossip section again. Hermione rolled her eyes at this and then turned the page to see the list of Death Eaters that were to be put on trial. Beneath the list was a smaller article that caught Hermione's eye:

 _Wizards and Witches That Were in Allegiance With You-Know-Who May Have Opportunity for Probation!_

Hermione's eyes zipped through the article as shock washed over her. She was just about through with the article when her telephone rang. She dropped the paper on the floor as she hurried into the other room to answer the phone.

"Hello?"

"Hi Hermione, it's me Harry! You haven't by chance read the Prophet today have you?"

"Oh, Harry!"

* * *

Draco pressed himself to the very edge of his cage to see the _Daily_ _Prophet_ that Granger had dropped on the floor. He squinted to find the article that had gotten her to react in such a manner; it could have been the list of Death Eaters to be put on trial. Then he saw the article and he felt a bubble of joy inside his chest as he read:

 _"Witches and witches accused of swearing allegiance to You-Know-Who during the Second Wizarding War may be entitled to probation if they were a minor at the time of swearing allegiance under Article 25.43 of Underage Use of Magic Statutes," Minister of Magic Kingsley Shacklebolt declared yesterday. The Article was brought to the minister's attention by known Death Eater sympathizer Tane Svensson._

 _"I just didn't think it was right to be sentencing these young men and women to their deaths for corrupt morals that they were being raised to believe," Mr. Svensson said to reporters, "So I searched for a possible answer to these kids prayers."_

 _The minister was quick to add during his press conference that if anyone accused of being a Death Eater as a minor would like to step forth to have an appeal for probation, they must have a willing testimony from another witch or wizard who has not been suspected of being a Death Eater or You-Know-Who sympathizer._

Draco didn't know whether to rejoice or be sick. _Tane Svensson_ just thinking his name left a sour taste in his mouth. Draco looked down at his paws. It was that bastard's fault he was in this mess! Draco's ears drooped; he should have never trusted Tane Svensson from the moment he said that he could help keep him out of Azkaban. Now he was a ferret and to make matters worse he was under the same roof as Hermione Granger. He curled up inside a sleeping pouch as the witch in question came back into the room still on the phone.

"Yes... Mm-hmm," She looked over at him as she listened to the speaker on the other side of the conversation. Draco shrank back into his hideaway.

She played with a lock of her hair as she turned her back from him and said, "I understand, Harry. I'll see you and Ginny in a few... Oh and Harry? Is Ron coming too?"

Draco poked his nose out in curiosity. _Weren't those two head-over-heels_ _for each other in school? Why did she sound so reluctant to have him visit?_

After Hermione said her goodbyes, she hung up the phone and walked over to his cage. She looked him as she said, "Alright you. Harry Potter is on his way right now, so if you are who I think you are prepare yourself!"

Draco chittered.

"You think I _want_ to be your roommate's pet, you stupid Gryffindor!?"

* * *

Hermione opened the door for Harry, Ginny, and Ron as they all apparated onto her doorstep.

"Hi Hermione." Ginny said as she hugged her, "How are you doing?"

"I'm fine." She said hugging Ginny back. She and Ron had an awkward few seconds of eye-contact as he followed Harry inside.

Harry looked around the flat, "Where is he, Hermione?"

Hermione gestured towards the living room.

"Mandy is keeping his cage in here."

The ferret crawled out of his sleeping nook and sniffed at them warily.

Ron immediately pulled out his wand.

"Alright then."

Ginny shoved his arm down immediately.

"Hold on! Hermione should be the one to do it! She just wanted us here for support."

Hermione nodded, "I'll be right back, I just need to get my wand out of storage."

As she left, the three gathered around the cage to examine the ferret.

"What do you think, Harry?" Ginny said apprehensively.

He leaned forward as the ferret slunk towards him.

"Well... it does look an awful lot like Malfoy."

Ron once again had his wand pointed at him, "What a sneaky effing bastard... What are you playing at?!"

Harry and Ginny both looked at him with a warning look. The ferret hissed defensively.

" _Ron_..."


End file.
